"he has loss-of-income coverage as part of his business insurance policy", "it would have been a challenge to restart the restaurant with new staff members who required extensive training".

He could have just as easily pocketed that insurance payout. Considering most people think good employees in low level jobs are a dime a dozen, and anybody can be trained to do the job in four hours (I know because I've been told so on Fark) it is refreshing to hear that he's keeping his staff paid while they rebuild.

If he had shareholders to answer to, there is no farking way this would happen. Everybody would be out on the street, and the insurance money would be applied to dividends and the store never rebuilt.

KAzaMM:Finally a slum lord of a fast food joint owner does the right thing.

One of my uncles owns a few Subways, and he has horror stories about how hard it is to find good people. When he hires a good one, he bumps their pay almost immediately and then promises raises every 6 months after. His biggest problem is that most of his good employees are high school or college students, and they inevitably have to move on at some point. He has some long time adult employees that have been around forever.

He said by far and away the worst employees that apply are people in their 30's and 40's who have just rotated around every fast food joint in the city. He doesn't knock people who just need work, but he said someone who has made a career of being at the bottom of the ladder for 20 years isn't someone who gives a shiat about their job.

This just in. Every billionaire on earth had condemned this story as a evil and using there financial expertise they can conclusively prove that someday cold hearted evil thinking like this will ultimately destroy the world economy.

What? What do you mean Ayn Rand didn't believe in Jesus? Then who wrote the Bible?

Actually, neither say that's evil. But I understand the intellectual vacuity of a generation that can't think past 140 characters. Why study issues when you can learn all you need to know by reading bumper stickers?

Lsherm:KAzaMM: Finally a slum lord of a fast food joint owner does the right thing.

One of my uncles owns a few Subways, and he has horror stories about how hard it is to find good people. When he hires a good one, he bumps their pay almost immediately and then promises raises every 6 months after. His biggest problem is that most of his good employees are high school or college students, and they inevitably have to move on at some point. He has some long time adult employees that have been around forever.

He said by far and away the worst employees that apply are people in their 30's and 40's who have just rotated around every fast food joint in the city. He doesn't knock people who just need work, but he said someone who has made a career of being at the bottom of the ladder for 20 years isn't someone who gives a shiat about their job.

People look at starting wage, not what raise they'll get in six months. He just can't attract good employees that will work for cheap.

That's not socialism, it's civility and ethics. Admittedly, that's a huge part of the socialist component, but it's more just not billing the people who bring the money in the door for circumstances they can't control.

blacksho89:Actually, neither say that's evil. But I understand the intellectual vacuity of a generation that can't think past 140 characters. Why study issues when you can learn all you need to know by reading bumper stickers?

"he has loss-of-income coverage as part of his business insurance policy", "it would have been a challenge to restart the restaurant with new staff members who required extensive training".

Possibly. Even if he paid those insurance premium, you can bet that cost a bundle over the years. Amazingly enough though, he's not unique.

I worked as a Revenue Officer with the IRS, it was initially astounding to me how many business owners, of barely profitable businesses, ran into massive financial problems because they paid their employees no matter what. They often put themselves out of business as a result, because they had real paternal/maternal feelings about their employees.

Hope this guy does have some kind of insurance for this, or that the rebuilding goes quickly enough that he survives it financially. People like this are why I get annoyed when I hear the kids whining about evil corporations.

And yet, if a single-shop independent restaurant closes, it's very rare that ANYONE will have any safety net. Not because the owners are dicks, but because independently owned restaurants are often right on the margin at the best of times, no matter how popular they are. And it's far more likely that people at an independent restaurant are in the job for the long term.

Which is why I got involved in a local charity to provide emergency relief for food and beverage workers at independent restaurants.

Russ1642:People look at starting wage, not what raise they'll get in six months. He just can't attract good employees that will work for cheap.

My uncle starts well above minimum wage, but he can only pay so much to start because if he gets a shiatty employee who still manages to do a barely serviceable job, then he's stuck paying that wage. And he does bump pay before six months if he thinks he has someone good, sometimes in as little as two weeks. It's the following raises that come in six month increments.

And he has some people who don't expect a raise at all even when they're given one because they just don't give a shiat. One guy has been working at two of his stores for 11 years. He's a high school dropout, a stoner (which doesn't mean a bad employee - that's just this guy's hobby), and he's perfectly comfortable doing the bare-bare minimum to get by. At 29, he's clearly not going very far in life. But every year when he gets his bump he tells my uncle he doesn't deserve it, and my uncle disagrees. He deserves the bare minimum raise, and that's what he gets.

What kills me is that he was offered a manager job early on after he proved reliable, and he didn't take it. My uncle still makes the offer every year or so, and the guy just says "Management isn't my thing." He is perfectly happy working three jobs for minimal pay that require no effort on his part. Maybe he'll change his mind when he's 40.

theorellior:blacksho89: Actually, neither say that's evil. But I understand the intellectual vacuity of a generation that can't think past 140 characters. Why study issues when you can learn all you need to know by reading bumper stickers?

theorellior:blacksho89: Actually, neither say that's evil. But I understand the intellectual vacuity of a generation that can't think past 140 characters. Why study issues when you can learn all you need to know by reading bumper stickers?

Wow, nice Twitter zinger. You must be a hit back at the nursing home.

What is this "twitter" thing of which you speak? Unless you mean what the ladies do when Mr. Foxton tells one of his risky stories?

I stand by my statement and belief that the divide in this country is prodded and perpetuated by sound bites. Only when we quit looking at the trees will we see that it's the forest that's the problem.

PirateKing:And yet, if a single-shop independent restaurant closes, it's very rare that ANYONE will have any safety net. Not because the owners are dicks, but because independently owned restaurants are often right on the margin at the best of times, no matter how popular they are. And it's far more likely that people at an independent restaurant are in the job for the long term.

Which is why I got involved in a local charity to provide emergency relief for food and beverage workers at independent restaurants.

Kudos to this guy for not treating his workers like cogs.

That insurance isn't cheap, either, which makes it far less likely an independent outfit will have it in the first place. Like how poor people normally don't have life insurance.

machodonkeywrestler:theorellior: blacksho89: Actually, neither say that's evil. But I understand the intellectual vacuity of a generation that can't think past 140 characters. Why study issues when you can learn all you need to know by reading bumper stickers?

Wow, nice Twitter zinger. You must be a hit back at the nursing home.

As a Randian, more likely he's in high school.

And as an ad hominem practitioner, your most likely in middle school, Beavis. Try harder.

blacksho89:machodonkeywrestler: theorellior: blacksho89: Actually, neither say that's evil. But I understand the intellectual vacuity of a generation that can't think past 140 characters. Why study issues when you can learn all you need to know by reading bumper stickers?

Wow, nice Twitter zinger. You must be a hit back at the nursing home.

As a Randian, more likely he's in high school.

And as an ad hominem practitioner, your most likely in middle school, Beavis. Try harder.

It's funny that you accuse others of sound bites but yet obviously have such a poor understanding of what that two faced idiot Rand wrote.

Lsherm:PirateKing: And yet, if a single-shop independent restaurant closes, it's very rare that ANYONE will have any safety net. Not because the owners are dicks, but because independently owned restaurants are often right on the margin at the best of times, no matter how popular they are. And it's far more likely that people at an independent restaurant are in the job for the long term.

Which is why I got involved in a local charity to provide emergency relief for food and beverage workers at independent restaurants.

Kudos to this guy for not treating his workers like cogs.

That insurance isn't cheap, either, which makes it far less likely an independent outfit will have it in the first place. Like how poor people normally don't have life insurance.

Very true. Independent restaurants are some of the most common types of small business, and they very often don't have enough employees to be required to offer benefits of any kind.

When you combine that with the (Fark Controversial) tip/minimum wage issue, you end up with servers, bartenders, chefs, and dishwashers really getting the raw end of the poor people stick.

Is it the greatest career choice? No. That's a whole other argument.

Not everyone has the benefit of a familial safety net. I speak anecdotally, of course. But most of my friends are in the business.

So we got a bunch of people together, and started a charity to provide emergency help to food workers in need. I'd still rather see wage and insurance reform that means they don't have to go cap in hand, but I'd rather donate my time and effort to help them out than see someone kicked out of her apartment because she broke her foot slipping on ice on the way to work. Or having to put his wife into a pauper's grave because he couldn't afford a funeral.

Having insurance actually makes this story more powerful. This is not a publicity grab or a sudden attack of niceness. Year after year, every time he paid the insurance premiums, he consciously made the same decision over and over again: "I think I want my employees not to suffer if the shiat ever goes down."

APRON, Inc. was founded in 2011 by a group of individuals with ties to the local restaurant community. Apron supporters include owners, servers, chefs and others concerned about our local independent food and beverage service workers. They realize that independent restaurant employees may be susceptible to financial distress in times of crisis.

Disclosure: I am not on the board or advisory board, but my fiancee is. I donate graphic design (that's my logo) and some tech services, along with volunteering at all the events and chipping in a few bucks when I can.